The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. John Piper, in a sermon, “Do Not Forsake Your Mother’s Teaching”- There are at least six … More God is the center of all wisdom
John Piper, in “A Hunger for God” p 166: Israel had been taken into Babylonian exile. They had been there for decades. Now the time had come, in God’s reckoning, for their restoration. But how could this happen? They were a tiny, obscure ethnic minority in the massive Persian empire. The answer is that God rules empires. And … More God’s predictions are as sure as He is powerful!
Philemon 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. John MacArthur, in “The Motives of One Who Forgives” But then notice what he says in … More A Reason to Forgive
Luke 20:20 So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21 So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, [1] but truly … More Silenced: “sincere” spies and tricky teachers
Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Exodus 15:26 “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of … More A possible new cure for osteoporosis?
Bob Deffinbaugh comments: A slight shift in the events recorded in Esther would have doomed the Jews, except as Mordecai said, “help would come from someplace else.” Nevertheless, success in the small details mattered. As an Agagite, Haman may well have used his position against the Jews at the first provocation, whether it came from … More A Web of God’s Providence
John MacArthur, in his introduction to Philemon: You ask yourself the question: of all of the subjects that Paul could have written about, why in the world did he pick the subject of forgiveness? This is this just this little isolated kind of odd, out of sync, obtuse tangential little letter stuck in the middle … More Philemon: Living Lesson on Forgiveness
John MacArthur on Luke 20:9-19 The parable has ended. The end is tragic for the vine-growers. It’s tragic for those who follow the vine-growers. It’s tragic, at this point, for the son, he’s dead. But the death of the son can’t be the end of the story. So he looks at them and says, “In … More Collision with a Crushing Cornerstone
Proverbs 17:3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts. God tests us, tests our hearts. Repeatedy in the Bible, we read that HE refines us, tests us, just as precious metals are refined to remove impurities. Read these other passages, and ask yourself what remains after going … More Kindling or gold?
Ray Stedman on Esther 7: The chapter opens with an intimate supper in a private banqueting room where Queen Esther, the king, and Haman, the evil prime minister, are gathered, and it closes with a man nailed, screaming, to a tree until he is dead. Here is one of those frequent timeless foreshadowings of the … More Haman’s Last Supper
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 